Cambodia used to be famous for its abundance in Marine life in the pre-war era. Amazing tales and stories can still be heard echoing in little villages on the coast. Much of the knowledge has been lost with the wars. The old oceanographic Institute of Cambodia, previously located on Koh Pos Beach in Sihanoukville is now a famous restaurant.

Today, little is known about the underwater marine life of Cambodia. Credible research attempts were conducted by the University of Singapore with the Fisheries Department in the late 90’s. Since, there have been few capacities devoted to rebuilding the data and knowledge base of the current Cambodian marine life and environment.

Cambodia's coastal shoreline is 435km long and consists of 69 islands. Most islands in the past have been used as military posts. This had so far kept the islands in a void where there were few boundaries for exploitative activities. Many areas that had until then been protected by relative isolation and lack of interest are now more than ever at risk of exploitative businesses. The question pending is how development will match environment preservation. There are positive signs and actions to build on.

So far only a group of islands has been given land titles for local populations that can be administrated by the cadastral office.
Most of the other islands have been slated for massive development plans, including a reputed 2 billion dollar development on Koh Rong Island.

The status of protected areas has been an issue in recent years with the implementation of the land law. Previous delineation of national parks had in the past covered a very large percentage of the national cover. The present delineation of the national parks is now in question with tourism and private sector development plans. The National park of Ream for example may be subject to large development projects that will have an impact on the size and quality of the surrounding environment.

There is today a new delineation plan that identifies larger marine areas for the creation of Marine Protected Areas.

Marine Conservation Cambodia has helped the Fisheries Department establish on Koh Rong Samloem one of the largest Community Fishing Protected Areas. This has been in development for nearly a year and the official declaration of the CFI was made by H.E. Nao Thouk earlier in 09.

Shortly after this, in order to protect the neighboring islands from anarchic dredging, a special 4km protection limit was set by the Fisheries Department around the Islands of Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem, making this one of the most marked developments in the delineation of new marine sanctuaries in the Kingdom of Cambodia

The Koh Rong Salmoem community has found a new role in preserving its very own local marine sanctuary. It is now engaged to become one of the countries leading pilot fishing communities spearheading the marine conservation movement in Cambodia.